In-store Customer Experience

This guide describes the flow for how your customer gets their In-store Virtual Card.

Never complete any part of the process on behalf of the customer as doing so could result in the termination of your relationship with Affirm.

The customer enters your unique link either by typing it in or clicking on it from some collateral.

The customer enters the requested loan amount.

The customer enters their first and last name, email address, mobile phone number, birth date, and last 4 digits of SSN.

We send a security PIN to the customer’s mobile phone.

The customer signs in to their Affirm account with the security PIN.

We process the application and renders a real-time credit decision.

If we require any additional information, we will prompt the customer for it (see below).

If approved, the customer sees the approved loan amount and available monthly payment options and other key loan terms (e.g., APR and amount of any required down payment).

If not approved, Affirm immediately notifies the customer of the decision in the checkout flow and via a secure message.

On the final screen of the Affirm checkout, the customer sees the option to enable AutoPay, which allows them to automatically submit monthly loan payments to Affirm without needing to visit Affirm each month.

Before clicking Confirm Loan, the customer must confirm that they’ve reviewed and agreed to the Truth in Lending Disclosure and Loan Agreement, and have reviewed their Credit Score Disclosure and your refund policy.

The customer receives a one-time use Virtual Card, which they can use to make their purchase in-store.

Bank account verification

Affirm sometimes requires additional information to evaluate a credit application or to confirm the identity of an applicant. Additional information may include a bank checking account, government-issued ID, or income verification.

In the case of a bank account verification request, Affirm will prompt the customer for a bank name, username, and password. Affirm will securely connect your customer's checking account to verify their identity and assess their ability to repay the requested loan. If Affirm requests this information and a customer cannot provide it, Affirm will not approve that loan request.

Down payment

In some cases, Affirm will require a down payment to complete a customer’s purchase. When this happens, Affirm provides the customer with the option to make a down payment with their debit card in the checkout flow. The customer pays the down payment directly to Affirm within Affirm’s flow. Affirm finances the remaining balance. Once the loan is confirmed, the customer may use their Virtual Card for the full purchase amount. The merchant is not required to collect any additional funds from the customer.

Declination notice

If the customer is not approved, Affirm will immediately notify them of the decision in the checkout flow and via a secure message. Because we protect consumer information, we don’t notify merchants about a customer’s credit decision. Please have your customer refer to the secure message that they received from Affirm for more information about the decision. Declined customers may still provide an alternative form of payment.

Automatic payments

AutoPay allows customers to automatically submit monthly loan payments to Affirm without needing to visit Affirm each month. They can choose to set this up during checkout or at any time when they log in to their Affirm account at www.affirm.com. This optional and not a requirement.